CONSERVATION
GROUPS AND U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REACH AGREEMENT TO PROTECT IMPERILED
SPECIES AND HABITAT UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

On August 28, 2001,
the Center for Biological Diversity, Southern Appalachian Biodiversity
Project, and the California Native Plant Society reached an agreement
in principle with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service which will expedite
protection of 29 species and numerous critical habitat areas under the
Endangered Species Act.

"This is a model
cooperative effort," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of
the Center for Biological Diversity. "By working together, environmentalists
and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have found a way to expedite
protection for endangered plants and animals across the United States
from the Pacific Islands to Idaho to Florida. It is a winning situation
for everyone, especially endangered wildlife."

The Mississippi gopher
frog formerly occurred across large areas of Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Alabama. It is now isolated in a single pond in Harrison County, Mississippi
which is threatened by a proposed housing development and highway projects.
North America's smallest rabbit, the pygmy rabbit has declined dramatically
in Washington state due to pressure from development, agriculture, predators
and disease. The genetically unique population has declined to just 50
individuals. Scientists have begun capturing them from the wild to prevent
their extinction. Equally endangered is the island fox now being rounded
up on California's Channel Islands, the Buena Vista Lake ornate shrew
which remains in a single, tiny wetland in the Central Valley, and the
Tumbling Creek cavesnail which occurs in just a single cave in Missouri.

To free up resources
to make these decisions within a short time frame, the environmental groups
agreed to a six month delay in the mapping out of critical habitat areas
for four Hawaiian invertebrates, and a nine month delay in critical habitat
for three California plants and a freshwater clam from the Appalachians.
These deadlines were the result of two prior settlements and a court order.

"The Southern
Appalachian Biodiversity Project recognizes the national and global dimensions
of the current human-caused extinction spasm. As such, we are eager to
help critically endangered species wherever they are found. This agreement
will provide immediate protection to some of the species facing imminent
threats," said Marty Bergoffen, staff attorney for the Southern Appalachian
Biodiversity Project.

Under the agreement,
the Service will immediately review three species for emergency listing,
issue 14 final listing decisions and eight proposed listing rules, and
make decisions on four ESA petitions. The Service will also map out critical
habitat areas for the Gila chub in New Mexico and Arizona, and for four
freshwater snails in New Mexico.

The 29 species helped
by this agreement represent a small portion of the 235 species listed
as candidates for federal protection, 24 species on the "warranted
but precluded" list, 35 proposed for listing, 66 which have been
petitioned for listing, and several hundred which still lack critical
habitat. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has estimated that it will
require at least $120 million to process the current backlog of species
and habitats in need of protection. Though the Department of Interior
requested $1.3 million more for the listing budget in 2002 than 2001,
environmental groups, scientists and 13 Senators have called upon Congress
to increase funding for the Endangered Species Listing program to $120
million over the next five years.

"This agreement
won't end all the conflicts, and it certainly won't save all of America's
imperiled species, but it's a good start," said Suckling. "With
so many plants and animals on the brink of extinction, it is imperative
that environmental groups and the Fish & Wildlife Service work together
to pull them back."